Name’s Matt, I’ll come right out and say that I’m a self designated “scratcher”. Hate me, flame me, ban me, whatever. I’ve already seen that the climate here is not friendly towards people like me, and I understand that.
I’m not going to ask for advice, instructions, or anything like that. I’m not here to start a fight, I’m not here to get in the way. If you don’t mind me lurking and discussing artwork and such then I’d be happy to be part of the community.
My goal is not to troll, flame, argue, or get the forum in any legal trouble, my goal is to sharpen my art skills. I can handle a machine just fine, but my artistic and creativity skills are lacking.
Hopefully we can get along, but if not, I understand.
I don’t want this to turn a “you can’t tattoo!” “yes I can!” thread. I am introducing myself. I’m Matt, it’s good to meet you Wardy.
Say that’s a dodge, say I’m a troll, whatever. I’d like to think we can get past the prejudices and get to know each other, or at least accept each other.
I’ve not got a problem with you dude. It’s also nice to meet you 🙂 i was just saying usually people post up some of there work when registering if they are into tattooing. It’s ok if you don’t want to though i just thought it would be a good way to make people accept you because for all we know you can be a kick-ass tattoo artist
Ok, I suppose I may have misinterpreted your first post. I was a member on a different tattoo forum, who apparently had an unwritten “ban on sight” policy towards “scratchers”, so I sort of became accustomed to a certain level of dislike.
I’ll take a picture of some of my work next time I see one of the friends who have one of my pieces. I’ve got a couple I did on myself, but I’m a bit embarrassed by the lack of creativity. They were a learning experience, and I don’t regret doing them, but that doesn’t mean I think I did a good job. I’d like the first impression of my work to be a positive one.
First off, welcome to the forum Matt.
Secondly, your initial post is so full of animosity that it’s no wonder some people might choose to get annoyed. Not because you’re a scratcher, but because you come in here with an attitude and automatically assuming everyone here is an asshole.
Granted, you’re not entirely wrong in that assumption, but still 🙂
Secondly, your initial post is so full of animosity that it’s no wonder some people might choose to get annoyed. Not because you’re a scratcher, but because you come in here with an attitude and automatically assuming everyone here is an asshole.
Granted, you’re not entirely wrong in that assumption, but still 🙂
I was almost feeling somewhat ashamed, till that last line. Then I lol’d.
I apologize if my post came across that way, but in the past I have caught more than my fair share of flack for being a scratcher. From a conversation at a gas station with a local tattoo artist turning into his field day for bashing me and all scratchers, to a flame-a-thon followed by a ban on another tattoo forum, I’ve become accustomed to a high level of animosity towards scratchers and, inherently, me.
For those that want to see my work, I’m designing a tribal for myself that should be done soon. The last tribal I did was with a pre-made stencil. This time, it’ll be all me. I’ve been drawing tribal designs for a little while, though my personal designs are a little bit of a break from traditional tribal styles. I’m looking forward to sharing my designs with you all.
After reading a few threads, I can’t help but laugh at some of the “traditionalists” on here (though they are everywhere).
I get that there has always been a certain status quo, but some of these guys act like deviating from that status quo will rip a hole in the time-space continuum. I have first hand knowledge of what happens when you try to isolate an industry from the changing world; refusing to change the way things are done because “this is how it’s always been done” (and as a side note, that argument in and of itself is fallacious). As the saying goes, “there is more than one way to skin a cat”, and some day someone will come up with a better way to skin a cat.
This may explain what I mean when I say that the “this is how it’s always been done” argument is fallacious:
http://www.nizkor.org/features/fallacies/appeal-to-tradition.html
Because scratchers are tattoo enthusiasts, too. You don’t have to approve of how we go about tattooing, or how we learned. No, I’m not as good as a professional, but that doesn’t mean my work is shit. I inform everyone I tattoo that I am not licensed or formally trained, they accept that, and decide to go ahead with it. So far, no complaints. The only bad tattoos I’ve done are on myself, and I can live with them, they taught me something.
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